The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Ivy Giserman-Kiss; Michelle Gorenstein; Elyana Feldman; Mikaela Rowe; Hannah Grosman; Jordana Weissman; Audrey Rouhandeh; Emma Wilkinson; Kristin Meyering; Allison Durkin; Emily Isenstein; Alexander Kolevzon; Joseph D Buxbaum; Paige M Siper

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7

The Immersive Theater Experience for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Mar;50(3):1073-1080. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7.

Authors

Ivy Giserman-Kiss^#^{1

2}, Michelle Gorenstein^#^{1

2}, Elyana Feldman³, Mikaela Rowe^{1

2}, Hannah Grosman^{1

2}, Jordana Weissman², Audrey Rouhandeh^{1

2}, Emma Wilkinson^{1

2}, Kristin Meyering⁴, Allison Durkin⁵, Emily Isenstein⁶, Alexander Kolevzon^{1

2

7

8}, Joseph D Buxbaum^{1

2

8

9

10

11}, Paige M Siper^{12

13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
³ Mount Sinai St. Luke's, New York, NY, USA.
⁴ College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁵ Yale Law School, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁶ University of Rochester Medical School, Rochester, NY, USA.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
⁸ Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁰ Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
¹¹ Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
¹² Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. paige.siper@mssm.edu.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. paige.siper@mssm.edu.
¹⁴ Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. paige.siper@mssm.edu.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 31797184
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04284-7

Abstract

Despite growing public awareness of ASD, many caregivers of children with ASD struggle to find opportunities for participation in community activities with appropriate accommodations. The current study evaluated the experiences of individuals with ASD who attended immersive theater performances specifically designed for individuals with ASD. Parents and teachers of 256 children and adolescents completed questionnaires regarding their pre-show expectations and post-show satisfaction with the performance. Analyses revealed that, on average, parents' and teachers' levels of satisfaction significantly outweighed their pre-show expectations. Based on researcher observations, audience feedback, and past research, a list of best practices for successful theater programming for individuals with ASD was compiled with the goal of widespread dissemination to increase accessibility of theater performances for neurodiverse audiences.

Keywords: ASD; Accessibility; Autism spectrum disorder; Immersive theater; Theater; Theatre.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Art Therapy / methods*
Autism Spectrum Disorder / rehabilitation
Autism Spectrum Disorder / therapy*
Caregivers
Child
Community Participation*
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice*
Humans
Male
Parents
Personal Satisfaction
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Surveys and Questionnaires